Unbreakable Fighting Umbrella

Size matters in Samsung's latest hard drive offerings

Tennis Racket Shapped Collector

The aerogel aboard the Stardust Spacecraft is fitted into a "tennis racket" shaped collector. This is unfolded from the protective Sample Return Capsule to expose it to space during flight. One side of the collector will be faced towards the particles in Comet Wild 2, while the reverse, or B side, will be turned to face the streams of interstellar dust encountered during its journey.

When hypervelocity particles are captured in aerogel they produce narrow cone-shaped tracks that are hollow, and can easily be seen in the highly transparent aerogel by using a stereomicroscope. This cone is largest at the point of entry, and the particle is held intact at the point of the cone. This provides a method for determining which direction the dust came from, and is the basis of the approach of using single slabs of aerogel to collect both cometary and interstellar dust from both sides.

After the encounter with Comet Wild 2, the aerogel collector will be retracted into the Sample Return Capsule (SRC) and returned to Earth for detailed analysis by scientists at the NASAs Johnson Space Center.

A New Camera for Extrasolar Planets

It hasn't found planets yet—but in its first year of operation, the instrument has already proved its worth.

For the better part of a year, an international team of astronomers has been working with a powerful new camera that may soon yield the first images of planets in other solar systems—and already, it has made some significant discoveries.

The Simultaneous Differential Imager (SDI) was jointly built by the University of Arizona’s Laird M. Close, who is working under a five-year CAREER grant from the National Science Foundation, and by Rainer Lenzen of the Max Planck Institute of Astronomy in Heidelberg, Germany. Its first target was Saturn’s moon Titan: during the instrument’s commissioning run early last year at the European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope in Chile, the astronomers obtained maps of Titan’s smog-shrouded surface that were almost as detailed as those made a few months later by the Cassini spacecraft. Shortly after, the researchers discovered a very rare, low-mass “brown dwarf binary” pair called Epsilon Indi Ba and Bb. Brown dwarfs are blobs of gas too small to shine like a star, but too big and warm to be called planets. Epsilon Indi Ba and Bb are only the third brown-dwarf pair known.

And then, as the astronomers described in the Jan. 20, 2005, issue of the journal Nature, SDI images of the very young star AB Doradus A revealed a brown dwarf companion having 93 times the mass of Jupiter, the largest planet in our own solar system—which makes this particular brown dwarf almost twice as heavy as theory predicted it should be based on its observed brightness.

“This discovery will force astronomers to rethink what the masses of the smallest objects produced in nature really are,” says Close.

In the meantime, he adds, the SDI team is continuing the search for actual planets, which are expected to be far dimmer than the brown dwarfs. That dimness is one big reason why no extrasolar planet has ever been imaged directly: they are lost in the glare of their parent stars. (The 120-plus extrasolar planets that have been found to date have all been detected indirectly, mostly through their effects on the motion of their parent stars.)

To eliminate this glare, the SDI first relies on its host telescope’s standard “adaptive optics” system to remove the blurring effects of Earth's atmosphere. Then the SDI takes the sharply focused light from a particular target star, and beams it into an internal optical system that is sensitive to light emitted by methane: a carbon compound thought to be abundant in the atmospheres of gas-giant planets. After some further computer processing, the result is a synthetic image in which the light from the star has been subtracted out, leaving nothing but the images of any faint, cool, methane-rich companions.

The SDI team has looked at about 20 stars so far, says Close, and the data are currently being analyzed—mainly by University of Arizona graduate student Beth Biller. “No confirmed planets yet,” he says, “but we should be able to detect planets some 20,000 times fainter than their primary star.”

Moreover, he says, the SDI’s direct imaging approach should nicely complement the standard method of looking for planets’ indirect effects on the parent star’s motion. “That technique is better for giant planets orbiting close in,” he says, “whereas ours should do better for giant planets like Jupiter or Saturn in our own solar system, which orbit further out.”

New Pacific Air Force Technologies Fly

The U.S. Pacific Air Forces are rolling out new technologies and capabilities to government and industry partners while seeking to consolidate for efficiencies. But, its vice commander bemoans continuing cultural and technological hurdles to effective network centricity.

Among the new capabilities are voice over secure Internet protocol (VoSIP), which is in four bases and will be installed in all nine bases over the next 12 months. Airmen also are receiving secure mobile personal digital assistants with Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) security for sending secure e-mail. And, network operations and CERT functions are consolidated into single Air Force network operations.

But Maj. Gen. Mike Hostage III, USAF, vice commander, Pacific Air Forces, wants effective systems delivered on time. “A perfect course of action late to the fight isn’t as good as a 90-percent solution delivered on time,” he said. And, these systems should serve military needs, not those of industry.

The Army can provide ballistic missile defense capabilities to the Pacific Air Forces’ air operations center. This helps improved missile threat defense. But, this data must be displayed on a separate monitor. Gen. Hostage wants that data to be consolidated with Air Force data so it can appear on a common monitor.

And, industry needs to build solutions based on Air Force needs, not its own capabilities. Gen. Hostage told industry, “Show us what you’ve got, look at our problem set, then help draw the links between the two.”

New Technology Allows Prisoner to Talk to Family

Electronic cigarette

An electronic cigarette or "e-cigarette" is a battery-powered device that provides inhaled doses of nicotine by heating a nicotine-chemical solution into a vapor. It is an alternative to smoked tobacco products, such as cigarettes, cigars, or pipes. In addition to nicotine delivery, this vapor also provides a flavor and physical sensation similar to that of inhaled tobacco smoke, while no tobacco, smoke, or combustion is actually involved in its operation.

An electronic cigarette usually takes the form of some manner of elongated tube, though many are designed to resemble the outward appearance of real smoking products, like cigarettes, cigars, and pipes. A common design is also the "pen-style", so named for its visual resemblance to a ballpoint pen.

Most electronic cigarettes are reusable devices with replaceable and refillable parts. A number of disposable electronic cigarettes have also been developed.

The legal status of electronic cigarettes varies by country.

Mobile Radio Data Technology

Mobile Data Radio technology shares its resources among users in a similar manner to a modern local area network. Coverage and capacity can be increased by simply adding base stations. The MDRS, which is based on highly scalable Mobitex technology, has the capability to be expanded up to 12,500 base stations.

The MDRS network’s componentry is designed for easy location and installation. Its small, uncomplicated units consist of a Data Radio Base Station, the MX Data Network Switch and the NCC Network Control Centre.

This streamlined, modular architecture makes for an extremely efficient and flexible management regime. The network can be precisely configured to match a particular service mix and meet expected solution requirements. Then, as demand and service uptakes change over time, the network can be easily re-configured.

While MDRS bears some similarity to the digital cellular technology of today’s mobile phone systems, it is unique in several respects. Firstly, as a narrowband technology designed for wireless data communication, it uses packet switching to maximise spectrum efficiency. Secondly, it is a dedicated, data-only network that is based on an open, international standard.

This means, that over the greatest number of wireless data applications, MDRS is the most cost-effective technology.

In the field, MDRS can be relied upon to meet the requirements of public safety and business-critical applications. By ensuring that real time data is available onsite and on-demand, MDRS empowers its users to respond in a timely manner.

Sony Rolly in Motion

Computer Security Objects Register (CSOR)

Information objects that convey information used to maintain the security of resources in computerized environments are known as Computer Security Objects (CSOs). The Computer Security Objects Register (CSOR) specifies names that uniquely identify CSOs. These unique names are used to reference these objects in abstract specifications and during the negotiation of security services for a transaction or application. The CSOR is also a repository of parameters associated with the registered objects. For agencies requesting a new OID, please send email with OID name, associated document and point of contact information.

The CSOR is currently registering the following objects:

• Security Label
• Information Object Security Program
• Public Key Infrastructure
• Cryptographic Algorithm

New registration branches and their object-specific requirements will be defined as the need arises.

CSOR Documents

The following documents are referenced throughout this CSOR web site:

• Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS)
• NIST Interagency Reports
• Secure Data Exchange (SDE) Security Label (802.10g - 1995)
• Defines the security label format for the IEEE802.10 Secure Data Exchange (SDE)

CSOR Disclaimer

The registration service presented here does not provide an endorsement or approval for techniques, algorithms, or products using the specifications maintained. Similarly, there is no explicit or implicit indication of the correctness or suitability of registered computer security objects for any use. Use of the Computer Security Objects Register (CSOR) is not mandatory, although recommended as a tool for achieving interoperability. Conflicts with ownership and/or rights over alpha-numeric object names and specifications must be resolved by applicants prior to the submission of a request for registration. The registration of a security object assigns the applicant no rights over the object or its name and is therefore no absolute proof of ownership. Registered objects and their names may be protected by copyrights and or patents and their use by others than the owner may require special arrangements without the involvement of the Registration Authority. Upon requesting registration, applicants give the Registration Authority permission to reproduce and distribute the names and specifications of all objects being registered.

Bar Code Technology

Since their invention more than 50 years ago, bar codes have been enablers for accurate data capture, the rapid movement of goods, and all types of automation. Whether at the Point-of-Sale, in a hospital, or in a manufacturing environment these little black and white images deliver incredible value.

There are many different bar code symbologies, or languages. Each symbology has its own rules for encoding characters (e.g., letter, number, punctuation), printing, decoding requirements, and error checking.

Bar code symbologies differ both in the way they represent data and in the type of data they can encode: some encode numbers; others encode numbers, letters, and a few punctuation characters; still others offer encodation of the 128 or 256 ASCII character sets. Recently unveiled symbologies include options to encode characters in any language as well as specialized data types.

Bar codes in common use are covered by international standards. International standards also cover print quality measurements and equipment.

Bar code technology standards define:

• Rules for representing data in an optically readable format,
• Rules and techniques for printing or marking,
• Reading and decoding techniques, and
• Rules for measuring the quality of printed/marked symbols

Alternative Fuel Technology Works by Argonne National Lab

New Chemical Exposure Limits (NCELs)

Under section 5 of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), any person who intends to manufacture or import a new chemical substance in the United States for commercial purposes must submit a premanufacture notice (PMN) to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) at least 90 days prior to manufacture or import. EPA's Office of Pollution Prevention and Toxics (OPPT) performs a risk assessment and makes a risk management decision.

If EPA determines, among other things, that the PMN substance may present an unreasonable of injury to human health via inhalation exposure, EPA is likely to issue a TSCA section 5(e) Consent Order. The section 5(e) Order is likely to require, among other things, that potentially exposed employees of the Company must wear specified respirators unless actual measurements of the workplace air show that air-borne concentrations of the PMN substance are below a New Chemical Exposure Limit (NCEL) that is established by EPA to provide adequate protection to human health.

In addition to the actual NCEL concentration, the comprehensive NCELs provisions, which are modeled after Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) Permissible Exposure Limits (PELs), include requirements addressing performance criteria for sampling and analytical methods, periodic monitoring, respiratory protection, and recordkeeping. EPA generally extends these section 5(e) Order requirements to other manufacturers and processors of the same chemical substances via a section 5(a)(2) Significant New Use Rule (SNUR).

NCELs Table -- The NCELs Table lists the actual NCEL concentrations established by EPA for specific chemical substances regulated by section 5(e) Orders. The NCELs Table is intended to provide a convenient list of all NCELs established by EPA (up to the date of Internet posting). This list of NCELs concentrations is not published in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) or elsewhere. To protect Confidential Business Information (CBI) under section 14 of TSCA, the NCELs Table gives generic descriptions of those PMN substances for which the company claimed the chemical identity as CBI.

CAVEAT -- The NCELs Table is for informational purposes only and is NOT itself legally controlling. Any discrepancies should be resolved in favor of the corresponding section 5(e) Order or section 5(a)(2) SNUR. The NCELs Table does not describe the other comprehensive requirements that are associated with the actual NCEL concentration and that are also imposed by the section 5(e) Order or section 5(a)(2) SNUR.

Mobile Communication Technology for Adolescents With Diabetes

Among patients with type I diabetes, adolescents struggle the most with self-management, which often results in poor glycemic control. Optimizing parent-patient interaction is crucial to improving self-management. Mobile technology with integrated glucose monitoring capability that links adolescents to providers may reduce parental hypervigilance and assist them to better understand self-management. .

This study will investigate a novel cell phone glucose monitoring system (CPGM) with the following specific aims:

1. To establish feasibility of a CPGM system as a component of an adolescent diabetes management program.
2. To determine if the technology will improve a) quality of parent-child relationship, b) patient quality of life, c) competence in diabetes management, and d) metabolic control.
3. To gather preliminary data for development of future intervention studies.

120 adolescents with type I diabetes will be randomly assigned to either an experimental or control group.

Experimental subjects will use the CPGM which will transmit all blood glucose data to a host computer. A nurse practitioner in the pediatric endocrinology clinic will determine need for telephone contacts based on evaluation of transmitted data. Subjects might be telephoned to discuss possible regimen adjustments, need for clinic visits, or referrals to additional services. Subjects will also be able to initiate contact with the project nurse. Control subjects will continue to receive standard care. .

This study will assess the effect of the intervention in the four primary domains stated in the specific aims.

These domains will be measured at baseline, three months, and six months.

Air Car by Guy Negre on BBC America

Vapour recovery at petrol service stations

In 2002, the Department of Environment and Climate Change (DECC) commenced evaluation of vapour recovery technology at service stations to reduce the emission of petrol vapours during refuelling of vehicles.

This technology is known as Stage 2 vapour recovery or 'VR2'. Over the last 20 years VR2 has been successfully introduced across the United States, Europe and in many parts of Asia to reduce local, regional and global air pollution.

In August 2007, DECC released a discussion paper seeking public comment on a proposal to expand vapour recovery at service stations in the Greater Metropolitan Region (GMR) of NSW.

As a result of this consultation, in November 2007 the State Government announced its intention to:

• expand the Stage 1 vapour recovery technology already in use at service stations in Sydney to the Central Coast, Illawarra and Lower Hunter
• phase in Stage 2 vapour recovery technology at service stations in the Sydney, Central Coast, Wollongong and Newcastle metropolitan areas.

Top 10 Smart phones in the year 2009

Nuclear Medicine Technologists

Significant Points

• Two-thirds of nuclear medicine technologists worked in hospitals.
• Nuclear medicine technology programs range in length from 1 to 4 years and lead to a certificate, an associate degree, or a bachelor’s degree.
• Faster-than-average job growth will arise from an increase in the number of middle-aged and elderly persons, who are the primary users of diagnostic and treatment procedures.
• The number of job openings each year will be relatively low because the occupation is small; technologists who also are trained in other diagnostic methods, such as radiologic technology or diagnostic medical sonography, will have the best prospects.

New Weather Technology Helps NOAA Storms Lab Develop Pilot Program

When a hurricane or severe storm hits North Carolina, South Carolina or Virginia - as Hurricane Floyd did in 1999 - weather forecasters now anticipate delivering more accurate flood and flash flood warnings.

Scientists are testing new advanced weather technology in a pilot program from the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL), NOAA's National Sea Grant College Program and North Carolina and South Carolina Sea Grant state programs.

New software that utilizes Doppler radar data, satellite imagery and other information tools will monitor rainfall in watershed basins as small as one square kilometer.

National Weather Service (NWS) forecasters can use the data to issue more precise and accurate flood and flash flood warnings. Emergency management officials, utility companies and others can use data to better prepare for flood events.

With new technology, researchers hope to mitigate losses such as the tremendous damage caused by Hurricane Floyd. In North Carolina, for example, the statistics were staggering - 52 deaths, 7,000 homes destroyed, 17,000 uninhabitable homes and 57,000 homes damaged.

"This will help save lives and protect property," said North Carolina Sea Grant marine educator Lundie Spence, who was one of several Sea Grant representatives who visited NSSL last year in an effort to develop joint projects within the two NOAA agencies.

"If we can assist the local NWS Forecast Office with implementation of new technology that provides additional details about a severe storm system, specific amounts of rainfall and the type of precipitation, people will have more opportunity to prepare to evacuate areas," Spence added.

The project has two phases: collecting regional radar data in "real time" at a single location at Wilmington, N.C., and creating Web-based flash flood guidance software using real time radar data.

The regional or multi-state images, which will be available by late September, will combine raw data from several National Weather Service Doppler radars in coastal North and South Carolina and coastal southern Virginia.

Currently, each NWS office can only get Doppler radar data from one or two radars at a time," said Kevin Kelleher, deputy director of the National Severe Storms Lab in Norman, Okla.

"With this new technology, we will be able to provide regional, multi-radar images and forecast products using realtime Doppler data to NWS forecasters and emergency managers extending from coastal Georgia to Washington, D.C.," Kelleher added.

"The ability to receive multi-sensor estimates of accumulated rainfall for individual river basins should really be helpful in managing flood situations."

By December, the second phase of the project will be nearly complete. Data will be available on the World Wide Web to a variety of users, including weather forecasters, emergency management officials, mariners, scientists and commercial users in the power and agricultural sectors. The data will include information on the amount of rainfall that has fallen in each river basin and an indication of the likelihood that flooding will occur.

"Web-based data will include color maps that will help emergency management officials more quickly and accurately identify the areas at greatest risk for flood," said South Carolina Sea Grant extension program leader Robert Bacon. "For example, they can more effectively target areas for evacuation and position their response and recovery resources to assist flood victims."

The National Sea Grant Program is a university-based program that promotes the wise use and stewardship of coastal and marine resources through research, outreach and education.

Ford's New Car in India

Ford has pronounced that it is to make a latest car in India, as part of its $500m (£304m) investment plan in the country.

Manufacturing will begin on the Ford Figo at the carmaker's plant in Chennai in the first quarter of 2010.

Ford has described the Figo - which is Italian slang for "cool" - as a "game changer" and said it was confident it would be popular with Indian consumers.

The Figo will compete in India's small car segment, which makes up about 70% of the new vehicle market.

The car will initially only be for sale in India, but there are plans to export it to other countries, Ford said.

In April, the world's cheapest car, the Tata Nano, went on sale in India. The Nano is 10 feet (3 metres) long.

"[The Figo] reflects our commitment to compete with great products in all segments of this car market," said Ford president and chief executive Alan Mulally.

"We are confident the Ford Figo will be a product that Indian consumers really want and value."